Page 114 of Hard to Hold

“Have you seen the news? Social media? Has Finn called you?”

“No. What are you—”

And right then, Lennox holds her phone out in front of me.

Oh God. Esme. There’s a picture of Esme with one eye black and blue and all but swollen shut. She’s not trying to hide it from the camera either.

The image is shocking to say the least, but it’s the caption above it that stops my heart: Rush McKenzie Gets Physical.

“No. No. No.” I shake my head as the words repeat over and over on my lips.

“Rush? Are you there? Rush?”

“I’m reading.” It’s all I say. All I can say as I take Lennox’s phone and begin to read.

In the latest tale of the torrid affair between pop sensation Esme and football star Rush McKenzie that has rocked the Liverpool organization, comes a new and disturbing revelation. He likes to get physical in more places than just on the field.

The Daily Mail caught up with Esme’s husband, Liverpool captain, Seth Haskins, for a statement. “When my wife was in Los Angeles for a benefit concert, she informed McKenzie that they were over. Told him to stop contacting her. His attempts to be with her are becoming quite desperate and constant. He became enraged when she told him that we’ve decided to work through our differences, and . . . well, you can see what he did to her as a consequence.”

The Daily Mail cannot confirm nor deny Haskins’s accusations, but pictures emerged of McKenzie and Esme having a private moment together on a balcony in June. A moment that has since sent the Liverpool organization scrambling on how to keep their two stars on the same field without another rumored clubhouse brawl from happening again.

“After what he’s done to my wife, I refuse to touch the field with him, and I’ve made sure the club knows this,” Haskins said.

According to inside sources, Liverpool is set to make a comment on this new development by tomorrow morning. Seeing as they have a strict no tolerance of domestic violence, one could assume some changes might be in the mix.

I stare at the article and read it again. When I look at Lennox, she’s on her computer typing furiously. Rory’s repeating my name over and over, which finally registers.

“I have to call you back.”

“No. Wait.”

“Rory,” I snap.

“Let me—”

“Don’t you think you’ve done fucking enough?” I shout at him. “I have to call you back.”

And when I drop the phone and close my eyes, I feel like my world is falling out from underneath me.

I haven’t signed the contract yet.

My mobile rings beside me on the bed.

I. Haven’t. Signed. The. Contract.

And it rings again.

The world I thought that Lennox had helped me right, just turned upside down again. From elation to despair.

And more ringing.

I know the club’s stance on domestic violence. I’ve seen teammates’ contracts voided after convictions.

All I can hear is the thunder of my pulse in my ears. All I can feel is my heart racing in my chest. The room sways around me.

“It’s Finn. You need to answer.” Lennox shoves my phone back in my hand and pries hers from mine. “Look at me,” she says and puts her hands on either side of my face. “We’re going to figure this out and get the truth out there. You are not going to lose this contract.”

I nod, but when I open my mouth nothing comes out.